Sad situation with freedom of speech in Armenia: Ombudsman unveils new ad hoc report

Armenia's Human Rights Defender Armen Harutyunyan unveiled Wednesday the 10th ad hoc public report on freedom of speech.

Titled Right of the Freedom of Speech in the Republic of Armenia the report comprises of five sections which refer to the Armenian legislation on freedom of speech, international standards, violations of journalists' rights in Armenia, as well as limitations in freedom of speech in radio, press and TV.

"Limitations on journalists' freedom of speech in many cases have political context as journalists are subjected to violations either before elections or just on the day of elections," said Armen Harutyunyan.

According to him what needs to be done to improve the situation with the freedom of right is to accelerate the process of reforms in the sphere of freedom of speech, which should be implemented in parallel with the reforms of the general systems of the country as it is directly related to other systems in the country.

Armen Harutyunyan proposed two directions for the freedom of speech: long- and short-term.

"I do not expect a revolution, but I hope that the report will kick up a discussion," said he, adding, that the democracy building process is a tough one, and it is impossible to achieve results overnight, therefore the report aims at following the right way of the development trend.